All troops have their specific attack and defence values. They all have different purposes, and are better used accordingly.

Furthermore, each village possesses a basic defence value. This means that a village without any defending troops may be able to kill attacking troops.This basic defence is affected by the residence / palace, the stone wall / earth wall / palisade and the morale bonus.

Some troops (Legionnaire, Praetorian - Roman troops; Spearman, Paladin - Teutonic troops; Phalanx and Druidrider - Gallic troops) are considered defensive troops. They are the best at defending for their respective tribes. Some are better at defending against infantry, some are better against cavalry. Having a mix of them is usually a safer bet, so that you avoid being weak to a specific type of troop.

When attacked, all troops currently placed in the village will help defend against the attack. You can enhance another village’s (yours or your allies') defence by sending troops as reinforcement to their village. You should also make sure they arrive prior to the attack. Gathering defence against a big attack is a good way to block the attack, with minimal loss for the defenders.

Unit's armour can be upgraded in the armoury of their home village, increasing their defence abilities.

Clubswingers are often seen as good raiders because their low training costs allow them to payback the investment quickly. Also, because of their attack power, they can be used to sweep defence produced between raids.

Though the Paladin is not an attacking unit, their ability to raid resources is only matched by the Theutates Thunder's velocity, and as with all cavalry units, they can be used in early game to kill off some poor Clubswingers who really don't know how to defend properly against cavalry.

Walls can give a nice defending bonus. Using rams while attacking can damage the wall and lower defence during the attack resulting in less casualties for the attacker. This could even change a humiliating defeat in a beautiful victory. The more rams, the faster the wall is destroyed.

Spies can be sent to scout an enemy's village and try to count either:

Defending units and resources

Defending units and building defences (Wall level and Residence/Palace level)

If the defender has spies in the village, some of the scouting spies will die, and the defender will be notified. If at least one of the attacking spies gets to leave, the attacker will have the requested information.

In order to detect scoutings on your villages, it is recommended to have at least a few scouts (5-30) on each of them. It is also recommended to have much more of them in the few spots (15 crops, capital, offensive village, ...) you really don't want someone to just scout and get the information.